Rabbi Saul Kassin, a senior religious leader associated with the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced in June 2011 to two years of unsupervised probation in connection with a federal corruption and money laundering case in New Jersey. The case was part of a broader investigation commonly referred to as Operation Bid Rig, which involved allegations of public corruption and financial crimes.
According to court records and reporting from the United States Department of Justice and media outlets, Kassin pleaded guilty to unauthorized money transmitting. Prosecutors stated that he used a charitable organization under his control, the Magen Israel Society, to move funds in transactions linked to an FBI undercover operation. The transactions involved checks and transfers arranged through an informant who was cooperating with federal authorities.
Kassin was among multiple defendants charged in a wide-ranging federal investigation that included public officials, business figures, and members of the Orthodox Jewish community. The case involved allegations that charitable and nonprofit entities were used to process and disguise financial transactions under federal scrutiny.
At sentencing, the court imposed probation, financial penalties, and forfeiture of funds connected to the case. The judge cited factors including the defendant’s age in determining that incarceration was not required under sentencing guidelines.
